A lightweight container
that uses a BoxLayout object as its layout manager.
Box provides several class methods
that are useful for containers using BoxLayout --
even non-Box containers.

The Box class can create several kinds
of invisible components
that affect layout:
glue, struts, and rigid areas.
If all the components your Box contains
have a fixed size,
you might want to use a glue component
(returned by createGlue)
to control the components' positions.
If you need a fixed amount of space between two components,
try using a strut
(createHorizontalStrut or createVerticalStrut).
If you need an invisible component
that always takes up the same amount of space,
get it by invoking createRigidArea.

If you are implementing a BoxLayout you
can find further information and examples in
How to Use BoxLayout,
a section in The Java Tutorial.

Warning:
Serialized objects of this class will not be compatible with
future Swing releases. The current serialization support is
appropriate for short term storage or RMI between applications running
the same version of Swing. As of 1.4, support for long term storage
of all JavaBeansTM
has been added to the java.beans package.
Please see XMLEncoder.

Method Detail

createHorizontalBox

Creates a Box that displays its components
from left to right. If you want a Box that
respects the component orientation you should create the
Box using the constructor and pass in
BoxLayout.LINE_AXIS, eg:

Box lineBox = new Box(BoxLayout.LINE_AXIS);

Returns:

the box

createVerticalBox

Creates a Box that displays its components
from top to bottom. If you want a Box that
respects the component orientation you should create the
Box using the constructor and pass in
BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS, eg:

createHorizontalStrut

Creates an invisible, fixed-width component.
In a horizontal box,
you typically use this method
to force a certain amount of space between two components.
In a vertical box,
you might use this method
to force the box to be at least the specified width.
The invisible component has no height
unless excess space is available,
in which case it takes its share of available space,
just like any other component that has no maximum height.

createVerticalStrut

Creates an invisible, fixed-height component.
In a vertical box,
you typically use this method
to force a certain amount of space between two components.
In a horizontal box,
you might use this method
to force the box to be at least the specified height.
The invisible component has no width
unless excess space is available,
in which case it takes its share of available space,
just like any other component that has no maximum width.

createGlue

Creates an invisible "glue" component
that can be useful in a Box
whose visible components have a maximum width
(for a horizontal box)
or height (for a vertical box).
You can think of the glue component
as being a gooey substance
that expands as much as necessary
to fill the space between its neighboring components.

For example, suppose you have
a horizontal box that contains two fixed-size components.
If the box gets extra space,
the fixed-size components won't become larger,
so where does the extra space go?
Without glue,
the extra space goes to the right of the second component.
If you put glue between the fixed-size components,
then the extra space goes there.
If you put glue before the first fixed-size component,
the extra space goes there,
and the fixed-size components are shoved against the right
edge of the box.
If you put glue before the first fixed-size component
and after the second fixed-size component,
the fixed-size components are centered in the box.

To use glue,
call Box.createGlue
and add the returned component to a container.
The glue component has no minimum or preferred size,
so it takes no space unless excess space is available.
If excess space is available,
then the glue component takes its share of available
horizontal or vertical space,
just like any other component that has no maximum width or height.